Sweet nothings : The Small Schoolgirls of the Borderlands in Eastern Anatolia. I had been living and working in the region for almost a decade, and in Turkey itself for more than four years. I was drawn by ideas of borders and belonging. During my time in Turkey I had grown familiar with many aspects of life that were alien to my own life in England : the ever present military in every town and on every hill, the crowds that moved so comfortably in such urban spaces, the vast open stretches of dusty roads on the high plateaus. One enduring image that had always struck me wherever I travelled was the schoolgirls in their little blue dresses, the same in every town, city or village. These dresses with their lace collars and sweet messages embroidered on the bodices, were the symbol of the Turkish state, but the girls who wore them were simply little girls. I wanted to make a series of portraits of these girls on the borderlands. Knowing their status I wanted to give a small space for the girls to have a small moment of importance in front of a camera. Most of all I was struck by their complete lack of posturing. Vanessa Winship